1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conduit support to be attached to a building structure to support a plurality of conduits having electrical conductors enclosed in them. In particular, it relates to a conduit support that can be used either as a trapeze bar suspended from an overhead part of the building structure or as a support directly attached to a rigid part of the building structure.
2. The Prior Art
It is common in the wiring installations in commercial buildings to arrange a group of conduits so that they extend generally parallel to each other for relatively long distances in or close to the same plane. According to the National Electrical Code promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, such conduits must be supported at regular intervals.
A typical conduit supporting structure, commonly referred to as a trapeze because of its appearance, consists of at least two suspension members spaced apart from each other and extending downwardly from an overhead structure with a conduit support bar attached at or near the lower ends thereof to be held in a horizontal position by the bar. The conduit support bar must be strong enough to allow several conduits to be supported on it or suspended from it without appreciably bending it in response to the combined weight of the conduits and the conductors within them. The suspension members, while usually not flexible, are subjected only to longitudinal tensile stress and thus need not be as resistant to transverse stress as the support bar. It is important that the conduits be held in fixed, selected locations on the support bar, and this has been accomplished heretofore by individual clamping means that are individually attached to the bar as the trapeze is assembled.
One of the problems with such trapeze structures is that the bars are cut to the desired length on the job, not beforehand, and that the individual clamping devices that fit the bar and hold the conduits in place are selected and assembled with the bar and the conduits. This requires the electricians to spend time doing such cutting, selecting, and assembling of the components for each trapeze.